Praveen Kumar, a former India player, unleashed a scathing critique of Hardik Pandya on Thursday, insisting that the all-rounder should face consequences for bypassing domestic red ball tournaments, similar to the actions taken by the BCCI against Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan.
“Has Hardik Pandya descended from the moon? He has t o play too. Why are there different rules for him? The BCCI should threaten him. Why would you play just the domestic T20 tournament? Play all three formats. Or have you played 60-70 Test matches that you will just play T20. The country needs you,” Kumar expressed on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.
This isn’t the first instance of Kumar’s criticism towards Pandya. Earlier this week, he had raised concerns about the Mumbai Indians captain’s fitness issues.
“You get injured two months before the IPL, you don’t play for the country, you don’t play for your state in domestic cricket, and just directly play in the IPL. That’s not how things should be done. It’s okay to earn money, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you have to play for state and country and now people only give importance to the IPL,” he previously remarked.
Amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the central contracts list, there has been considerable deliberation about Hardik Pandya’s inclusion as well. Reports indicate that Pandya was awarded a contract after assuring the selectors and the BCCI that he would participate in domestic tournaments if there were no conflicting international commitments.
During discussions, there was also scrutiny over Pandya’s Grade A placement in the annual contract list. Having recently returned to competitive cricket following an ankle injury sustained during the World Cup in October, Pandya’s commitment to featuring in domestic tournaments without international overlaps seems to have been a key factor in his contract inclusion, according to a top BCCI official.
